The present invention relates to mobile devices and data processing by digital computer, and more particularly to transactions associated with a mobile device.
Advances in processor, memory, and wireless technologies have led to the proliferation of mobile electronic devices. Typical mobile devices, such as WiFi-enabled wireless mobile phones (e.g., WiFi-enabled smartphones) and personal digital assistants (WiFi-enabled PDAs) provide a wide array of services, such as cellular calling, email, text messaging, calendar and address book services, media object acquisition and playback services, and camera services, among many others. In acquiring media objects, cell phone minutes, or other goods or services available over the Internet, mobile devices often provide users with the same functionalities as other computing devices.
Concurrently, merchants such as retailers, wholesalers, and service providers offer customers a wide variety of payment methods. Customers can often pay via any of cash, check, money order, gift card, credit card, and debit card. The variety of payment methods, combined with the fact that many merchants do not accept certain types of credit cards, and so forth, requires customers to carry on their persons instruments associated with a large number of payment methods (e.g. credit cards, debit cards). Carrying this wide array of payment method instruments is often quite burdensome to many customers.